The present invention relates generally to processing systems and methods for silver halide photographic elements. The present invention particularly relates to the reuse, for photographic processing purposes, of water collected from several sources of water vapor and water in the photographic processor. The invention also relates to a method and system for the formation of dry waste from liquid waste effluent from the photographic process.
It is desirable, especially with small scale dispersed photofinishing equipment or stand-alone equipment, to reduce the number and complexity of operator interventions required to process photographic materials. One way to achieve this is to package the processing solutions as concentrates, which are then mixed with water by the operator or mixed automatically by the processing machine to provide the working strength solution concentrations. The KODAK SM system automatically meters these concentrates into the processing machine and adds water, so that no chemical mixing is required by the operator. It is, however, still necessary to provide the machine with water periodically. In highly dispersed photofinishing, it is not desirable to have to mix chemicals by hand frequently or to have to provide the machine with water frequently.
Less expensive and more economical photographic processing equipment can be built if the automatic mixing and dilution of processing chemistry concentrates can be avoided. With these processing machines, processing chemicals are supplied at the operating strength required by the processor, eliminating the need to dilute by hand and the need for accurate pumps for automatic mixing. This saves cost in manufacturing the processing machine. It is still desirable to minimize the number of interventions required by the operator to replace empty packages of processing chemistry (in liquid or solid form) or to refill the processor with water used for processing.
Therefore, it is desirable that the processing equipment conserve its on-board water or be able to recover water after it has been used to process photographic materials.
In addition, it is desirable to provide waste from the processing machine that is in a dry state, which can simplify waste disposal.
There has been interest in recovering water from waste photographic processing solutions in order to lessen the amount of water consumed by the photographic process and to concentrate the waste. One way to accomplish this, for example, is to use evaporation means to generate fresher water as a vapor or distillate from an evaporation/condensation unit.
JP 8057202A describes an evaporator equipped with a heat pump which includes a compressor, a heat radiator, an expanding bulb, and a heat absorber. The heat radiator is used to heat and evaporate photographic processing waste liquid. The heat absorber is used to cool and condense the vapor of the liquid. Evaporation and condensation occur under reduced pressure. The evaporator is used to concentrate photographic processing waste and is not an integral part of a processing machine. Further, the condenser is not used to collect water from the processor dryer unit or other parts of the processor, only from a batch of waste liquid.
JP 6095329A describes a vacuum heat pump-type of evaporator for concentrating photographic waste liquid, a condenser for cooling the vapor generated from the evaporator, and a tank for recovering the condensed water. The system operates under reduced pressure. The concentrator is connected with a photographic automatic processing unit. The collected condensate water is reused as the dissolving water and/or dilution water in the preparation of the liquid in the photographic processing unit. The condenser is not used to collect water from parts of the processor, only from processor waste liquid.
JP 3266840A describes an automatic processing apparatus for silver halide photographic material in which a condenser of a heat pump is used to condense water from evaporated photographic liquid waste only.
JP 9258405A describes an automated photographic processing apparatus in which waste liquid is evaporated and concentrated. Moist air containing the evaporated moisture is blown into a dehumidifying device, from which the air is released as dry air into the atmosphere. The moisture in this dehumidifying device is condensed and is stored in a water storage tank.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,045 describes an automated photographic processing apparatus containing a distillation device to evaporate processing waste liquid and collect distilled water from the evaporated waste, returning the water to the processor for use. Additionally, the apparatus may contain a separator (dehumidifier) to separate water from air in the vicinity of the processor, for use within the processor.
The above described systems for water recovery and reuse have been limited to evaporating, condensing, and collecting water from photographic waste liquids or from surrounding ambient air. These systems have not been used to recover water from humid air sources within the photographic processor.
Furthermore, the conventional systems discussed above do not address the evaporating and drying of waste liquids from an absorbent medium within a processing chamber of the processing machine. This approach increases the surface area for evaporation and increases the evaporation and water recovery rate.
Necessary components of a photographic processor which contain water vapor are useful sources of recoverable water. These sources of water are the sections of the processor in which the photographic elements are dried, in which the photographic solutions themselves partially or completely evaporate during the course of processing, or in which waste processing solutions are evaporated. An example of the last two is the controlled temperature chamber in which batch processing can be performed with a processor as described in GB 0023091.2, with a drum-type of processor as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,188, with a drum processor such as the R-11 Drum Processor manufactured by Eastman Kodak Company, or with a belt-type of processor as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,195. This chamber may contain within it a vessel to receive waste solutions from the photographic process for evaporation to render the waste dry.
An object of the present invention is to solve the problem of recovery of water from sources of water vapor within a photographic processor. With the arrangement of the present invention, the overall consumption of water by the processor is reduced. The integration of the water recovery system with the processor results in a more compact unit than the use of a separate processor and water recovery unit.
In another embodiment, a rapid evaporation method and system results in the generation of solid waste from liquid photographic waste and the recovery of water for reuse from the water vapor from the evaporated waste.
Therefore, the present invention relates to a system and method that involves recovering and collecting fresh water for reuse from several sources of water, and also relates to a system and method for the formation of dry waste.
In a feature of the invention, a condenser unit of a heat-pump or cooling device is used to recover water from the sources of water vapor in a processor of photographic material so that the water may be reused in the photographic process. Humid air from the chambers of the processor in which processing solutions, such as developing solution, bleaching solution, etc., are applied to photographic materials during processing is one source of recoverable water. Another source is the humid air from a dryer used to dry the photographic material. A third source of water vapor is from the evaporation of waste photographic processing solutions within a chamber or section of the processor. The condenser unit may also be used to recover water from ambient air in the vicinity of the processor.
In the present invention, the system to recover water from humid air sources within the processor is integrated into the processor, making the processor more compact. The system to evaporate photographic processing waste is also integrated into the photographic processor
The evaporation of waste processing solutions takes advantage of the type of processor being used. An example of such a processor is described in GB 0023091.2, which has a hot air enclosure to provide the temperature environment for photographic processing and for the evaporation of the waste effluent solutions. The effluent is collected and dispersed on absorbent matting. New Pig Ltd. makes one such product (MAT267 Universal Ham-OTM PIG(copyright) Mat) which can be used.
The present invention therefore relates to a method of processing photographic material which comprises introducing the photographic material into a processor, wherein processing of the photographic material includes at least applying a processing solution to the material and circulating heated air through the processor, with the heated air becoming humid heated air as it circulates through the processor; contacting the humid heated air with a cold source to condense the humid heated air, and collecting water resulting from the contacting of the humid heated air with the cold source.
The present invention further relates to a processing arrangement which comprises a processor that is adapted to process photographic material, with the processor comprising at least a system for applying processing solution to the photographic material and a heated air source adapted to circulated heated air through the processor, wherein the heated air becomes humid heated air as it circulates through the processor; a cold surface adapted to contact and condense the heated humid air, and a water collector adapted to collect water which results from the contact of the heated humid air with the cold source.